Saudi Arabia Bars 'Gays and Tom-Boys' from Government Schools

Saudi Arabia has barred "gays and tom-boys" from schools; students will only be permitted to return if they stop “unacceptable behavior.” <br/>

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Rachel Hirshfeld, 18/04/12 11:23

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israel news photo: Flash 90

Saudi Arabia has decided to bar "gays and tom-boys" from government schools and universities, a Saudi newspaper reported on Monday.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is expected to oversee and enforce the new orders, said the Sharq Arabic language daily.

“Instructions have been issued to all public schools and universities to ban the entry of gays and tom boys and to intensify their efforts to fight this phenomenon, which has been promoted by some websites,” the newspaper reported.

The paper did not clarify who issued those instructions, but said “gays and tom boys” will only be permitted to return to schools and universities if they “stop such practices” and “unacceptable behavior.”

Saudi Arabia operates under Sharia, or Islamic, law and punishes homosexuality with sentences of corporal and capital punishment.